Hydronic heating systems for heating floors (radiant floor heating) or walls (radiant wall heating) are well known in the art. Typically, hot water (or other fluid) is circulated through a closed-loop circuit between floor joists or wall studs in order to heat the adjacent floor or wall. It is also known in the art to attach one or more heat-radiating fins to the fluid conduit (or tubing) so as to improve heat transfer efficiency from the hot fluid in the conduit to the floor or wall. These fins, which are typically aluminum, are usually constructed in two symmetrical halves. Along one side of each of these fin halves is a cylindrical trough having a curvature designed to be fitted over or under the conduit.
In the prior art, these heat-radiating fins are usually riveted to the conduits. In a typical fin installation, approximately six rivets have to be driven through pre-pierced holes in each fin in order to attach the fin to the conduit. As will be readily appreciated, the number of rivets required to install all the fins in a complete hydronic heating system for a house or other structure is quite substantial. In other words, installing fins to a conduit in a hydronic heating system is a tedious and time-consuming task. Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide an improved connector for quickly and easily connecting a heat-radiating fin to a conduit of a hydronic heating system.